Monday, January 20, 2014

2 Incidents of Middle East Nationals Trespassing at Water Facilities

First responders removed a Manalapan man from a 24-inch pipe within the United Water facility, located on Wilson Avenue in Manalapan Township [New Jersey], Friday morning.

Asaf Mohammad, 26, of Emily Drive in Manalapan was pulled out of the pipe at around 11 a.m. Friday, Captain Michael Fountain of the Manalapan Police Department said.

An employee of United Water heard someone screaming for help while he was walking the perimeter of the facility shortly after 7 a.m. He, and other employees, were able to pinpoint the screams from within the pipe, Fountain said.

First responders were able to break apart part of the pipe that was horizontal and then were able to look down through the vertical portion of the pipe were Mohammad was located. According to police, Mohammad went into the pipe head first, but was able to turn himself around while inside at one of the intersections underground and stand back up and responders were able to pull him out while he was standing.

According to police, Mohammad was naked when he was removed from the pipe. Authorities are unsure of how long he was in the pipe, but believe it to be several hours before the employees located him. Once Mohammad was extracted, he was flown by a medical helicopter to Robert Wood Johnson in New Brunswick for treatment. His condition appeared to be non-life threatening, according to Fountain, but hypothermia was a concern.

Police do not know how or why Mohammad entered the United Water facility or how he got inside of the pipe or onto the grounds. He has been charged with trespassing.

Fountain said that there is an officer at the hospital attempting to ascertain more information from Mohammad and detectives still investigating the grounds of the United Water facility in order to determine what precisely happened and to see if additional charges should be filed.

Shortly after midnight Tuesday, seven people were caught trespassing at the Quabbin Reservoir.

State Police say the five men and two women are from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Singapore, and “cited their education and career interests” for being in the area. The men told police they were chemical engineers and recent college graduates.

The Quabbin, in Belchertown, is one of the country’s largest man-made public water supplies. Boston’s drinking water comes from the Quabbin and the Wachusett Reservoirs.

State Police say there were no warrants or advisories on any of the individuals and “there was no evidence that the seven were committing any crime beyond the trespassing.”

All seven were allowed to leave and will be summonsed to court for trespassing. The FBI is investigating and routine checks of public water supplies have been increased following the incident.

The seven individuals currently live in Amherst, Cambridge, Sunderland, Northampton and New York City. Police have not released their names because a court date has not been set.